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2025 Best Journalism Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

4 Colleges in the Plains States Region
161 Master's Degrees
$64,650 Avg Early-Career Salary
a master's degree in journalism is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #102 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 4 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for journalism students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 161 master's degrees in journalism to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Journalism School for Your Master's Degree

Best Journalism Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region The journalism master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for journalism students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Journalism Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Journalism Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Journalism in the Plains States Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in journalism.

Top Plains States Region Schools for a Master's in Journalism

1
Iowa crest
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

University of Iowa is a wonderful decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in journalism. Iowa is a very large public university located in the small city of Iowa City.

Journalism master's degree recipients from University of Iowa receive an earnings boost of around $10,380 above the average income of journalism majors.

More information about a master’s in journalism from University of Iowa

2

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in journalism needs to take a look at University of Nebraska - Lincoln. UNL is a fairly large public university located in the city of Lincoln.

Students who graduate with their master's from the journalism program state that they receive average early career income of $61,760.

More information about a master’s in journalism from University of Nebraska - Lincoln

3
KU crest
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS

University of Kansas is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a master's degree in journalism. KU is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Lawrence.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the journalism program make around $66,011 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in journalism from University of Kansas

4

It is difficult to beat University of Missouri - Columbia if you want to pursue a master's degree in journalism. Mizzou is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Columbia.

Students who graduate with their master's from the journalism program report average early career earnings of $55,800.

More information about a master’s in journalism from University of Missouri - Columbia

Best Journalism Colleges by State

Explore the best journalism schools for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Missouri 193 52
Minnesota 174 0
Iowa 154 38
Kansas 149 24
Nebraska 123 27
South Dakota 89 1

View All Rankings >

Journalism is one of 5 different types of Communication & Journalism programs to choose from.

Journalism Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Journalism 160
Other Journalism 1

Related Major Annual Graduates
Communication & Media Studies 232
Public Relations & Advertising 128
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 9
Communication & Journalism (Other) 5

Notes and References

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